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Pathfinder Society Scenario #1: Silent Tide (OGL) PDF

4.10/5 (based on 55 ratings)
Pathfinder Society Scenario #1: Silent Tide (OGL) PDF

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A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for 1st to 5th level characters (Tiers: 1–2, 4–5).

When strange reports of misty undead spread through Absalom, you and your fellow Pathfinders are dispatched to the half-drowned district of Puddles. Notoriously rough, the drooling addicts, flesh panderers, and quick-handed knifers of Puddles are the least of your worries. The night's tide brings with it an ancient armada of some long-forgotten war and you are the only thing between their mist-shrouded ghost fleet and Absalom's utter oblivion.

Written by Michael Kortes

This scenario is designed for play in Pathfinder Society Organized Play, but can easily be adapted for use with any world. This scenario is compliant with the Open Game License (OGL) and is suitable for use with the 3.5 edition of the world’s most popular fantasy roleplaying game.

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4.10/5 (based on 55 ratings)

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Great Beginning

4/5 —

This was the first PFS scenario my friends experienced, and they were entertained the whole time. It's easy on the combat due to 3.5 vs PFRPG differences, but if your group is new that's not a terrible thing.

a little save-the-world-y

4/5 —

Hard to judge the first scenario, especially this far back in retrospect, but I did like it. The only complaint I had was that it felt kind of save-the-world-y, which is atypical of how most scenarios go. On the other hand, if your players are bored with always running around as mercenary/archaeologist types, this might be the solution.

PFS

4/5 —

I have both played and GMed this adventure.

The opening encounter is awesome and involves more than just beating up monsters and taking their stuff. There's some cool Absalom flavor although the plot is a little incredulous.

The maps are top notch and include interesting terrain.

Strong Writing, Weak Challenge

3/5 —

Silent Tide

I'm going to be rating a bunch of PFS scenarios using five main criteria that I think are all important for a scenario to be the best it can be.

I'll start off my string of PFS reviews with the very first PFS scenario. Even though it was written for 3.5, this one still has some strong qualities that make it worth playing, so long as you understand its limitations.

Challenge (1.5/5)::
Other than the final boss, Nessian, this scenario's opposition are pathetic jokes. The Black Echelon operatives have attack bonus and damage that are far too low, especially in Subtier 4-5, and the thugs aren't much better. Nessian can give PCs a run for their money unless he has his poor Will save exploited, so that earns this scenario a 1.5.

Interesting Encounters (3.5/5)::
Fortunately, given what I said about the challenge level, every single one of these encounters gives you something extra to think about. In the first fight, there's captives falling off a cliff. Then there's the hatches and the grain. After that, the pipe organ can really be great if you play up the urgency to get the pipe organ going as soon as possible (forget the amount of time the mod says they have--make the players think the armada might attack any second if they don't start the music!). Despite having the biggest challenge, the final encounter area was the least interesting, though the sagging former siege tower cluster is still a cool encounter site compared to a generic dungeon room. Unfortunately, the Challenge bleeds over into this category to mark it down from 4 to 3.5--the encounters are in fact so easy that they hinder your ability to benefit from the coolness in them (for instance, if the Black Echelon were actually scary opponents, the hatches in the granary might be more relevant in that fight).

Roleplaying Opportunities (3.5/5)::
The main roleplaying opportunity is in the Siphons with Grandmaster Torch and the chests. I will admit to being biased in favor of RPing with GMT because of the excellent interactions I had with my group, offering to pay him large sums of money to obtain or hide information. I've heard other groups hate GMT, so I suppose it's all in what you take from the character. The whole chest portion is a nice change of pace and placed at a good point in the scenario. Additional RP opportunities can be found with Yargos the hapless historian, and Andoran/Silver Crusade PCs are more likely to talk to him a lot to get their mission completed. Other than that, you can make your own RP moments by playing out the PCs' search for the diner and conversation therein instead of starting them at the cliff and by adding a scene with the terrified survivor of the Abadar temple.

Golarion Flavor / Continuity (3.5/5)::
There is no stretch for the Pathfinder Society to be involved in this scenario, and the plot is coherent and sensical. As the first scenario, Absalom is a natural choice, and it gives the perfect opportunity to introduce or emphasize the following elements to your group: Grandmaster Torch, Absalom, the many failed attacks on Absalom (particularly Taldor's), The Puddles (and the earthquakes that made them what they are), and Abadar. You can also extrapolate additiona lore on the contents of the various chests. So basically, no continuity problems, and good basic stuff for a starting group. Nothing groundbreaking though. I'll give it a bump in this regard though since it was the very first scenario.

Awesome Factor (2.5/5)::
This category exists for things that just make the characters call out "That's awesome!" On the other side, it includes things that make them groan, but I've named the category after the positive side of the aspect. For me and my players in my two runnings of this scenario, the awesome touches were Grandmaster Torch himself, the chests, the organ encounter setup. The magical moving tattoos would have also been included if they were available for a character to purchase, the lack of which (considering how easy it would be to include) is actually a pretty big mistake. Due to that mishandling, I'm actually putting the magical tattoos in the not-so-awesome category, along with the severe mood-killing easiness. As an additional potential non-awesome factor, if your friendly Rogue doesn't have Shadow Strike (Calistria forbid you're playing Merisiel, for instance), she will find herself frustrated after the first encounter at the high subtier, as the Black Echelon use Obscuring Mist and Nessian uses Blur, so everything has concealment and negates sneak attacks. Another GM at my venue had this issue.

Overall Analysis (3/5): I don't judge often in extremes. A scenario will truly have to be something to get a 1/5 or a 5/5 from me in any category. I know some reviewers tend to rate high, where a 3/5 would be a product they didn't like. For me, Silent Tide's 3/5 means that the scenario is good, but could have been better. A 3 star is an average RPG scenario, but Paizo in general is capable of better because they tend to put out high quality product. Honestly if it was updated to Pathfinder in such a way that it was not just updated in format (adding CMB and such--I don't care about that and I didn't knock the scenario any points for that) but also had the difficulty significantly increased, the scenario might hit 4 stars just from that.

Enjoyable Intro to PFS

3/5 —

In it's current format, Tide is only really good for brand new level 1 PCs playing their first adventure.

It's kind of cheesy too since you're the only ones interested in "saving Absalom" from creatures even 10 year old boys with pitchforks could handle. It has not aged well.

It runs short (2-3 hours).

Having said that, it's enjoyable and a decent introduction for new players to PFS.

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The Exchange

So when do the modules become available for purchase for home game participation in the Pathfinder Society?
Liberty's Edge

Also, I am trying to download my Pathfinder card but can't. Is there something wrong with the link?
Mark Gedak 27 wrote:

So when do the modules become available for purchase for home game participation in the Pathfinder Society?

My understanding is immediately after GenCon, Monday the 18th.

The Exchange

Damn, what I'm I supposed to do for this weekend's and next weekend's game then. Sigh...
Scarab Sages
Mark Gedak 27 wrote:

Damn, what I'm I supposed to do for this weekend's and next weekend's game then. Sigh...

Suck it up Qadiran dog.

Oh yeah! Faction smack talk! Gotta love it!
fray wrote:

Suck it up Qadiran dog.

Oh yeah! Faction smack talk! Gotta love it!

Perhaps, if you Osirions bathed more often, your demeanor would be more pleasant no? At least then, your stench could be more easily tolerated, if not your attitude...

Verdant Wheel
Relvik wrote:
Perhaps, if you Osirions bathed more often, your demeanor would be more pleasant no? At least then, your stench could be more easily tolerated, if not your attitude...

Lowly peasants should´t bark against the scions of eternity...

Dark Archive

Quiet, you... or I'll whip both into submission.

Or maybe I'll do that anyway. It's just to show my superior skills... and for the laughs. Mine, obviously.

Scarab Sages

Just so you know this is my own personal collection of pieces of several of our great wise and powerful ancestors. It's too bad that your nose is not capable of noticing greatness.

Also to further your education... I do not bathe, I rinse with precision.
Dark Archive

Greetings... HERETICS. Come to our BARBECUE.
Scarab Sages
Radavel wrote:
Greetings... HERETICS. Come to our BARBECUE.

My people knew the true nature of eternity when your people were still scraping the moss of the rocks of their caves.

Dark Archive

Can't wait for this!
Liberty's Edge
Pathfinder Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Look at all the petty lordlings squabbling amongst themselves while the people wait for their chance to cast off their shackles. Patience, brothers. Our time is coming.
The Exchange
fray wrote:

Suck it up Qadiran dog.

Oh yeah! Faction smack talk! Gotta love it!

Sorry, did you say something? I normally speak with former slaves.

Sovereign Court

1-2 or 4-5?

Is there no love for 3rd level?
Paizo Employee Director of Brand Strategy
Pete Apple wrote:

1-2 or 4-5?

Is there no love for 3rd level?

Player's of 3rd level can run the scenario at either the lower of higher tier.

I'm having the same issue...boo ;(

Are we allowed to run these using the Beta Rules (after monday)- or do we have to use 3.5?
Sczarni
Pholtus wrote:
Are we allowed to run these using the Beta Rules (after monday)- or do we have to use 3.5?

if you are counting them for pathfinder society, then you need to use 3.5 until Gen Con 2009 when the final release of the pathfinder ruleset comes out.

Dark Archive

Will these be PDF only or will there be a print edition. Based on the price point I'm leaning towards the former option.
Sovereign Court

This was a great adventure and even though we had to rush through, the Scenario played like clock work with the final battle ending in a rather interesting way...Good old Ray of Enfeablement on a Critical Hit for 9 Str. May have not been done right for the rules, but like I said we were rushing to make the time block and the DM was cool about the critical hit. Thanks a lot for you great DMing Sir Wolf, Gen Con 2008 Indy
Sczarni
David Fryer wrote:
Will these be PDF only or will there be a print edition. Based on the price point I'm leaning towards the former option.

all pathfinder society scenarios will be PDF only

Dark Archive
Lilith wrote:
Mark Gedak 27 wrote:

So when do the modules become available for purchase for home game participation in the Pathfinder Society?

My understanding is immediately after GenCon, Monday the 18th.

F5 - F5 - F5 - F5

The Exchange
golem101 wrote:
F5 - F5 - F5 - F5

F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5

Dark Archive
Mark Gedak 27 wrote:
golem101 wrote:
F5 - F5 - F5 - F5
F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5

F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5 - F5

Scarab Sages

uh...If the release time of the Beta is any indication, these won't be up for another hour and 13 minutes. so there's not a point in pressing F5 repeatedly.
...
F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 F5 ...

edit: well...proven wrong i see.
Dark Archive

...not to mention F2...
Dark Archive

Bought, downloaded and printed. BWAHAHAHAHAHAH!!
Sovereign Court

How many pages are these (thinking about printing pdfs)?
GeraintElberion wrote:
How many pages are these (thinking about printing pdfs)?

15-17 pages. Three of the pages are cover, title page and scenario chronicle

Grand Lodge

I had a lot of fun taking my Puddles-originating PFS character thru this at GenCon. Well written, with some good tense moments, as well as having opportunities for some good cinematic combat.

Mr Kortes, this was almost worthy of a Shackleton!
Lantern Lodge

I've downloaded Scenarios #1 through #4 with a view to running Pathfinder Society sessions at my local game store. So far, I've scanned through Scenario #1 pdf, though I haven't read in any detail, primarily because I haven't printed them to paper yet.

The first thing that jumped out at me, is that several of the encounters have stats only for Tier 4-5 adversaries. Are some Tier 1-2 challenges missing in this adventure?
Sovereign Court
DarkWhite wrote:

I've downloaded Scenarios #1 through #4 with a view to running Pathfinder Society sessions at my local game store. So far, I've scanned through Scenario #1 pdf, though I haven't read in any detail, primarily because I haven't printed them to paper yet.

The first thing that jumped out at me, is that several of the encounters have stats only for Tier 4-5 adversaries. Are some Tier 1-2 challenges missing in this adventure?

It might be because sometimes the Tier 1-2 stats are put down without a tier reference and then the Tier 4-5 stuff is put afterward in brackets (ie. bottom right of page 6, bottom left of page 10, top left of page 11) Also at one point the Tier 1-2 encounter is shown and then beneath it says; "Tier 4-5 Give..." (middle left of page 13).

So Tier 1-2 is presented as the default, with tier 4-5 added on.
Lantern Lodge

Okay, that was it. Also, the full stats were in the appendix. It was the big bold "Tier 4-5 CR 1" headings without a corresponding Tier 1-2 heading that confused me. After printing and reading it, it made more sense. Sorry for the distraction.

Help me out? I run games for middle schoolers at a school, are the pathfinder society modules PG enough, that we could enter in organized play, and search the world of Golarion without too much anger from parents?
Paizo Employee Director of Brand Strategy
gnomewizard wrote:
Help me out? I run games for middle schoolers at a school, are the pathfinder society modules PG enough, that we could enter in organized play, and search the world of Golarion without too much anger from parents?

I can't imagine that exploring Golarion would result in much anger from parents in any case. As it stands, the player's guide should be adequate as long as each player has access to the PHB. Anyone wishing to play a cleric will need deity/domain information from one of the other Pathfinder sourcebooks, though. You might be able to reproduce this separately as a handout, if no one wants to or is able to get the free AP player's guides, the Gazetteer or the Campaign Setting.

Sczarni
gnomewizard wrote:
Help me out? I run games for middle schoolers at a school, are the pathfinder society modules PG enough, that we could enter in organized play, and search the world of Golarion without too much anger from parents?

To add to what Yoda said, the PFS modules are made to be run at conventions, where it isn't all that unusual to have an 8 year old playing right along next to a parent. Where the adventure paths might be PG-13 (or R if Louge has his way with them) the PFS are more PG (think fast and the furious vs speed racer movies - both have battles and violence with cars, but the tone is friendlier in speed racer.)

Josh said he is going to try to keep the younger audience of convention-goers in mind when looking at the module writeup, to keep it young-friendly

Thank you so much the both of you, I think i am going to have them sign-up for Pathfinder Society, ANd really have some fun logging our adventures through Galorian. Thanks again.
Liberty's Edge
gnomewizard wrote:
Thank you so much the both of you, I think i am going to have them sign-up for Pathfinder Society, ANd really have some fun logging our adventures through Galorian. Thanks again.

I played #1-#3 at Gen Con, and didn't find anything I wouldn't want my 14-year-old daughter exposed to.

-George
Dark Archive

I played through this mod at DragonCon and enjoyed it a lot.

One question:

Spoiler:
Where do you find the specific oath that the undead swore to become undead (the Chelaxian prestige goal)? I assumed it would be in the code book, but no dice there.
Paizo Employee Director of Brand Strategy
PulpCruciFiction wrote:

I played through this mod at DragonCon and enjoyed it a lot.

One question:

** spoiler omitted **

Spoiler:
It's not detailed anywhere. It might be the seed of an ongoing plot thread for this season, though, so keep your eyes peeled. For now, just assume it's something eeeeevil.

Spoiler:
So, if it isn't in the scenario does that mean that the faction goal is unattainable?
Paizo Employee Director of Brand Strategy

Spoiler:
I believe that attaining the head of one of the undead meets the requirement. If I recall, without rereading the faction objective, it mentions something about diviners using that to determine the nature of the oath.
Dark Archive
yoda8myhead wrote:
** spoiler omitted **

Spoiler:
Really? I didn't get the prestige point, and I did manage to grab a skull along the way.
Contributor
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Mike did a fantastic job on this. I'm headhunting him to write an adventure for Sinister Adventures actually. I'd love to get him on an Indulgence PDF adventure. I think he's one of the most innovative adventure designers working right now.

What do ye say Mike, will you write for me? I have a doosie in mind for you to tackle.
Paizo Employee Director of Brand Strategy
PulpCruciFiction wrote:
** spoiler omitted **

I think, then, that you experienced GM error. You might want to either email them and ask how they interpreted the faction objective, or contact Josh about tracking that prestige.

Liberty's Edge

1 question, i just adquiered it recentlyand was checking the Main Villian has a 'Variant class'

there is a sourcebook where this came?
Montalve wrote:

1 question, i just adquiered it recentlyand was checking the Main Villian has a 'Variant class'

there is a sourcebook where this came?

It's an unnamed variant in the SRD. But if I recall correctly, it was 'originally enjoyed' in Unearthed Arcana.

It's a very combat oriented variant; few skills and feats, but top BAB with sneak attack progression. It can be deadly, in my experience, when used in pairs to maximize flanking.
Liberty's Edge

thanks!

was thinking the same
one of my players liked it when i mentioned it
i was undecided if suing it or not
still haven't sued the adventure so there is still time for that
Sovereign Court

Played this @ Anonycon 08 and it was awesome! As this was my first Mod @ my first con consider this a rave review.
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